Midnight
by Death's Apostle
Summary: Hardly anyone knew Robert Parr had a brother. Both his and his brother's superhero work had demanded they keep it a secret. Now, however, his brother's family is in trouble. It seems Bob's not the only one with a nemesis.
1. Dusk

**Midnight**

By Death's Apostle

Victoria woke abruptly to the shrill cry of a young girl, followed closely by a young boy's. She jumped out of her bed and hurried blindly out of her room to the one across the hall. Once inside she fumbled for the light switch, finding it, the room was suddenly flooded with light. The sight that met her was one she had become increasingly familiar with since her mother had died.

Her younger brother and sister lay crying in their beds woken from another nightmare. She moved fluidly to the sturdy wooden bunk bed, sanded and hand painted varying shades of green, where the twins slept . As soon as the young boy on the top bunk noticed his sister in the doorway he practically threw himself down the ladder and ran at her, followed closely by his female counterpart. The young woman dropped to her knees to allow the children to attach themselves securely to her neck. For several minutes she simply held them whispering comforting words of reassurance. The silence was broken by the soft shuffling of feet coming from the hallway. Tory turned to look at the tired face of her father.

"Another nightmare?" he asked. His voice was low and rich but rough from sleep. Tory nodded but said nothing.

"Can you get them back to bed yourself?" he sounded tired. Tory nodded again, however this time she spoke softly, her voice gentle.

"Is there anything we can do to stop the nightmares?" her father looked at her understanding the real question. He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his eyes, suddenly looking grief stricken, and frail.

"There's no escaping the nightmares in this house." he answered softly, turning away from his children and returning to bed. Tory stayed holding her brother and sister long after the sound of her father's shuffling had faded into the night and the twins whimpers had ceased. Only when she began losing the feeling in her legs did she guide the two back to their beds and kiss them good night. As she turned to go a soft voice stopped her.

"Tory?"

"Yes Jack?" she said turning to look at the boy on the top bunk with the flame colored hair

"I miss mommy." he said, head down. She looked at him a moment.

"I know," she said, "so do I."

"Tory?"

"Yes Michelle?" she said now looking at the bottom bunk and its red haired inhabitant. The little girl looked at her with sad, troubled eyes.

"I miss Daddy too." Tory understood exactly what her sister meant. Ever since their mother had died, two months ago, their father had not been the same. He didn't smile, he didn't laugh, and he all but ignored his five children. He was slowly drowning in his grief; she could see it when she looked at him. There was no doubt that he loved his kids very much, that, they all knew. However, he was simply inconsolable, and she worried that he was nearing the end of his rope.

Trying to think of something to comfort the little girl and get her back to sleep she said the only thing she could think of.

"We all do, but try not to worry. Everything will work itself out soon, you'll see." she smiled softly at the two of them "Don't think on it now, just relax and get some sleep." They both nodded. Tory turned out the light and walked back to her own room with a whispered good night.

Once back under her own covers Tory felt the exhaustion of her body, but her mind wouldn't allow her to sleep. The words she had said to the twins, and the ones she _hadn't _said, circled her mind. She _did_ believe that everything would work itself out, but for better or worse she certainly didn't know. Almost immediately all of the possible negative scenarios started chasing each other around her brain. They ran together, separated, multiplied, and bled into each other. She looked at the clock; it was only two in the morning. A long night of tossing and turning didn't sound all that appealing so she silently slipped out of bed and changed out of her sweatpants and t-shirt; the nights had been chilled lately. Digging through her drawers she pulled out a pair of black running pants and her black long-sleeved spandex shirt. She stuffed her feet into tennis shoes, tied up her hair and grabbed a black piece of fabric she rapped around her head to hide her face. Make-shift mask complete she opened her window, and looked to the ground two stories below her. She listened a moment for any sound of movement, hearing none she jumped out of the window. However, instead of hitting the ground, her entire body was surrounded in a soft white light. This light, her power, held her above the ground, and with one final glance at the dark house she flew off toward the city.

Once on the top of a building in the center of downtown she searched for anything that looked out of the ordinary. She sat there watching for a good half hour before seeing anything. It wouldn't have seemed so suspicious if the man hadn't just stood there. . .in front of a bank. "Honestly", she thought with a sigh and ever present sarcasm, "it's embarrassing, is what it is.". She watched as a van pulled up and eight other men jumped out. The sudden addition of the men and their ample ammunition caused her a moment's hesitation. She wasn't sure if she could take all of them in her exhausted state. "It doesn't matter." she thought, "There's no turning back now." With a final deep breath she threw herself off the tallest building in the business district, flying in a beeline for the men in the process of robbing the largest bank in the city.

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It was a routine job. We had everything planned out, and it was going perfectly. Get in, get the money, get out. Well, it should have been a routine job. There was no noise, no sound to alert us to her approach, yet all of a sudden she was on us. Her fists flew and her legs swung, like it was some kind of lethal dance. I was the last to get taken down, and I still didn't have time to react. Getting back up, trying to gather my wits, I realized that she had forgotten to take into account our driver. When she turned to me I smirked. She cocked her head in silent confusion for a moment until pain flashed through her eyes when the butt of a gun met the back of her head. Taking the opportunity to repay her for all the sore muscles I would have tomorrow, I gave her a good kick in the stomach. I smirked again as my comrades crowded around for their turn, 'some superhero', I thought . I was just about to give her another boot when I felt something white hot shoot through my body. Every muscle clenched suddenly, and just as suddenly went limp. I don't even remember hitting the ground.

----------

The young man had been watching her since she had graced the night with her presence. Just seeing her out patrolling again seemed to lift a huge weight off his heart. It had been at least two months since she had been out watching over the city, trading insults with him, fighting bad guys, triumphing over evil, all that good stuff. He had tried to tell himself he wasn't worried; that he didn't miss her, but it had been a waste of time and effort. He knew now that the feeling in his stomach wasn't just that last taco acting up, or maybe that cheese _had _been bad after all. Seeing her again, if only from afar, made him feel like doing a jig. . . and he didn't jig.

He sighed, supposing it was alright to admit that he cared about her, if only to himself. Losing himself in thought once more he didn't realize she had jumped until he heard the sound of bodies hitting the ground. He looked up in time to see the driver knock her to the ground and one of the robbers get in a pot shot before he had surrounded himself with the electricity that flowed through his body, following his every command, and shot at the men below as fast as lightning. Deciding to forgo actually hitting them for checking on the girl; he simply gave them a shock they wouldn't soon forget and ran to the black clad figure curled up on the ground.

"Flare?" he helped her turn on to her back, "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine." it sounded weak, and very unlike her usual self. He offered her his hand, she took it and he hauled her to her feet. She stumbled slightly, but stayed standing.

"You've gotten sloppy over your vacation." he told her, hoping for their usual banter; he was sorely disappointed.

"Some vacation." she mumbled

"Where have you been!" he asked finally, frustrated. She looked up at him, staring at him through her dark eyelashes.

"Why? Were you worried?" her tone was sarcastic, but he didn't answer, he couldn't, not yet. She looked at him for a moment more before turning from him and walking away.

"So…I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Maybe." she lifted herself from the ground and flew off without turning back. He was right of course, she thought, she had been careless tonight and it had gotten her into trouble. She supposed she should feel grateful to him, she would have been in quite a lot of trouble if he hadn't turned up, but she couldn't feel anything. It had been this way since her mother had died. She just felt so numb, and tonight it had affected her performance. It was also beginning to cause rifts to form between her friends and herself. She was quiet and aloof, far more than normal, and she hardly ever smiled anymore. She also knew they felt hurt that she wouldn't open up to them, but she just couldn't. She wasn't really the talking type anyway, so she held it inside of her. It might not be the best way of dealing with it, but currently she didn't have any other choice.

Her mother's death had brought Tory's older brother and sister home again. Her brother, Calvin, from his fire station where he was a promising young firefighter, and her sister, Marie, from her college in Maine. Both of her older siblings had been devastated at the sudden loss of the mother both cherished so greatly. Their mother had been the glue that had held all of the immensely different siblings together; without her they were struggling, fumbling to find a way to work together. It didn't help her any that with her father in the rut that he was, she was now almost sole guardian of the twins.

She sighed, it wasn't so much that she didn't like it, she thought. Her little brother and sister were frighteningly well behaved most of the time. They listened to her, and did what she told them. They were also incredible smart, Tory figured they got it from their father who was a psychic, and everyone knew psychics were naturally more intelligent. No, it wasn't that she didn't like them, simply that recently, with that increasingly familiar hollow feeling in her stomach, it took all of her energy to keep up her façade for the hyper active two. The façade that said she was fine, that she was dealing with it, but the truth was she wasn't dealing with it. She was pushing it aside, and she knew it, but for the life of her she couldn't bring herself to examine the not so fresh, but now festering wounds. She hadn't even cried since the day of her mother's death.

By this time she had reached her home again and crawled back in through her window. She unwound the black cloth from her face and changed back into her night clothes. She collapsed on her bed, pondering that her late night adventure might not have been such a good idea. She was sure to have bruises on her stomach in the morning, and her head felt like it was going to fall off it hurt so badly. She hoped that what she had told the twins would indeed come to pass, for the better. She missed her father desperately, and she needed his guidance.

Hello, I am Death's Apostle...I'm new.


	2. The Final Light

**Midnight**

**Written By: Death's Apostle**

**_Aside_**: You know, it's curious. I've been reading the stories written on this site for awhile now, and could never understand why authors always stripped away their last shed of recognizable dignity begging for reviews. I've only just recently began posting, and I think I now understand. It's hard to finally get the nerve up to show anybody these stories, and then to get no feed back is a bit frustrating. However, I absolutely refuse to beg… instead I shall suffer in silence. Enjoy.

The next day true to her predictions Tory could hardly move. She was exhausted, having only gotten a few hours sleep, and because of the robber's cheap shot the previous night had to roll out of bed to avoid using her abdominals. An added bonus: she might as well have had an ax sticking out of the back of her head; it certainly would have felt the same. Moving slowly she made her way to the bathroom she shared with Marie. Luckily it was empty, she didn't want anyone knowing about her most recent bout of vigilantism. Normally no one cared, they might even have congratulated her on a job well done, if it had been one, but now everyone was on edge enough as it was and allowing them to find out would only add to the ever mounting pressure. After a long, hot shower Tory dressed in ripped jeans and a sweater before going down to breakfast. Calvin and Marie were already sitting at the table when she walked into the kitchen. Calvin was drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, and Marie was cooking eggs at the stove.

"Where's Dad?" she asked. Calvin looked up at her

"He hasn't gotten out of bed yet."

"What about the twins?" she asked as she sat down at the table with him.

"They're still sleeping too." Marie said as she flipped the eggs.

"Aren't we supposed to go to the zoo today?" Calvin nodded, "Well shouldn't someone get the twins up? It's already eight o'clock." Both Calvin and Marie looked at her meaningfully. She looked at Calvin. Then she looked at Marie. Then she looked behind her, just to make sure. She rolled her eyes, and stood up muttering. Marie watched her walk up the stairs, laughing silently, listening to Tory's continued grumbling about lazy older siblings and the poor misunderstood middle child. She looked at Calvin once she was sure Tory was out of ear shot.

"She went out last night." Calvin looked up confused.

"How do you know?" Marie looked back at the stairs, "I heard her jump out the window after she put the twins back to sleep."

"Well, that's good isn't it? She's getting back out there."

"I suppose." Marie sighed, "It still worries me though. She's been so withdrawn lately, I'm afraid she'll get careless, or do something dangerous and get hurt." Calvin nodded having noticed Tory's distance lately as well.

"I'm sure she'll be alright." he said trying to lighten the mood, "She's always got that boy to look after her. What did he call himself again?"

"Volt?" Marie asked surprised. She laughed "Boy I miss listening to him and Tory argue. Maybe we should start patrolling again, just to hear them." Calvin smiled. Marie sighed again and pushed her dark auburn hair out of her bright green eyes, "I guess your right, he does have a very strong power, and he and Tory do look out for each other, no matter what they say.".

They would have continued their conversation, but at that moment Jack and Michelle came running down the stairs followed by a rather harried looking Tory. Marie always marveled at the way the twins listened to Tory. She did feel bad about basically dumping them on her younger sister, but Tory took such good care of them there was really no other option, neither herself nor Calvin were very good with kids, even their own brother and sister. However, she had to admit, they looked adorable. Michelle had her dark red hair in two braided pig tails and her bangs framed her face. Her Soft brown eyes sparkled with excitement, and brown shorts and white shirt brought out her freckles. Jack on the other hand had his dark orange hair in a messy style that was very popular at the moment. His dark emerald eyes were brought out by his green sweater and jeans. She looked up at Tory to gauge her appearance as well; she was wearing the ripped and faded jeans Marie hated so much and had put on a green long-sleeved shirt. Her black hair was up in a messy bun and the shorter pieces in the front had fallen out to frame her pale face and fall lightly into her steel blue eyes.

Marie wondered idly why Tory looked so different from the rest of them. She was the only one with out freckles and red hair. She was the only one who looked like their father. At some moments that fact made Marie more jealous than she ever thought she could be. There was no mistake that she loved her little sister, but because she didn't look like their mother Tory was the only one their father hadn't completely shut out.

Jack came running up to her.

"Whatcha makin'? Can I have some? When are we leaving? I want to see the lions. Do you think we'll be able to pet them? Where's Dad?" Marie just stared hopelessly at him.

"What was the first question?" she asked. She looked at Tory who was chuckling softly. She stuck her tongue out at her, to which Tory immediately replied in kind. She looked over just in time to catch Calvin shaking his head.

"Am I the only sane one left in this house?" he cried. Tory walked over to him, put her hand in his strawberry blonde hair and ruffled it ruthlessly.

"What are you talking about Vin…you're not sane." Calvin frowned comically and Tory smirked.

After serving the twins their eggs Marie turned to Tory.

"How many eggs do you want?" she asked. Tory looked up shrugging.

"I'm actually not hungry." She said then returned to her piece of the paper. Marie met eyes with Calvin and frowned.

"Don't you think you should eat something? I mean you didn't eat dinner last night either." Tory looked up into the worried eyes of her older sister and sighed. She then looked to Calvin, hoping for support, but found him glancing nervously at her as well. She stood up, walked to the fridge, pulled out an apple and waved it at them.

"Look we should get going soon." she said after having taken a bite of the green fruit, "I'm gonna go tell Dad we're leaving." then she walked back up the stairs. Calvin and Marie shared a worried look before getting up to make sure their youngest brother and sister were ready to go.

Tory climbed the stairs fully submerged in her own thoughts. She wasn't stupid, far from it in fact. She knew Calvin and Marie worried about her. In truth they probably knew she had left last night. Well, at least Marie did, Calvin had always been a bit slow to catch on to the subtle. She sighed softly as she walked into her father's room. He was laying on his and her mother's bed reading from a medical journal. He looked up as she entered the room, smiling slightly.

"Are you leaving now?" she nodded her head.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" she asked. He looked away for a moment before turning back to her.

"I'm afraid I just don't feel very well today Tor. You have a good time though, ok?" She forced a small smile on her face and nodded then turned to go. At the doorway she stopped and with out looking back spoke softly.

"I hope you feel better." Her father watched her as she walked out, closing the door behind her. Standing outside her father's room Tory allowed her emotions to show clearly on her face. Fear, doubt, and sorrow played freely across her face for a moment before she was able, once again, to mold her face into cool indifference. Mask in place, she walked calmly back down the stairs to her family.

Upon, once again, reaching the kitchen a scene of chaos met her. An orange bird was flying around in circles above Marie's head squawking and dancing out of her reach as she tried in vain to catch it. To the left of them a red dog sat on one of the table's chairs eating messily off a plate. In the middle of this sat Calvin, cowering behind his newspaper, and looking to all the world like he was trying desperately to ignore the proverbial elephant. She stood stunned before a smirk lifted the corner of her mouth. Stepping into the room she cleared her throat loudly. The effect this relatively small sound had on the room was incredible. At once the bird changed into the small destruction device she called her little brother and dropped the remaining feet to the ground before running at her and dancing around her babbling excitedly about which animals he wanted to see first. The dog, also changing into the sister she remembered, only now with a much different complexion (one that looked remarkably like the eggs Marie had made for breakfast) followed closely behind. However instead of dancing in circles around her older sister she contented herself with merely hopping up and down spastically, while humming along to a tune only she could hear. Tory looked up at her older sister and raised her eyebrow. Marie only sighed exhaustedly and rolled her eyes causing Tory to smirk once again. Once finished abusing Marie with amusing facial expressions she looked down at the twins who were still hopping around and staring at her expectantly.

"Alright." she said, "Go wash yourselves off and we'll go." Cheering the two immediately took off for the bathroom down the hall. Calvin just stared at her.

"How do you _do_ that!" He asked, incredulous. She shrugged, continuing through the kitchen and into the living room to look for her shoes. Returning a moment later with shoes in hand; she sat wearily at the table. Calvin looked at her, worry showing in his eyes.

"Tory?"

"Hmm?" as she looked up he was able to see the circles under her eyes, and how tired she really was.

"Have you been sleeping alright?" he figured it was best to approach the subject delicately. She looked at him, her expression guarded.

"Fine." she answered curtly, "Why?". Calvin shook his head.

"You just look tired is all." Perhaps he would try again some other time. A moment of tense silence passed before she looked away to finish tying her shoes. The silence never had a chance against the twins as they came running in arguing over who was more ready. Tory put an end to the contest when Jack declared he was so ready he was almost not ready all over again.

Finally, bagged lunches ready, the siblings loaded up their father's car and were on their way to the local zoo/park. They arrived fifteen minutes later to find the early morning crowd had thinned slightly. The woman who sold them their tickets was nice enough, humoring the two shape shifters and their endless questions about her favorite animal, favorite snack, and the like. Once inside Marie found a map of the zoo and began to plan out a route. Bored with the structure her sister enforced, Tory wandered to a display showing pictures of parents holding their young children, older couples, and large families all enjoying the local zoo. Some had their faces painted, and others sported various zoo memorabilia, but all were smiling. Tory reached out slowly , her hand hovering over the picture she recalled faintly. It was from several months prior, a trip her family had taken to the zoo, and like all the other pictures they were all smiling. Her fingers finally came to rest softly on her mother's face.

"Hey! Tory!" She turned quickly stepping away from the colorful display, looking in the direction her name had come from. She was surprised to see her friend walking toward her.

"Carmen?" She strode casually over to the girl. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

Carmen smiled widely "You mentioned you were coming so we though we'd surprise you." Tory couldn't help herself, she smiled, then stopped.

"Wait. We?" Carmen's smiled widened and turned slightly mischievous.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? I invited some people." Tory raised an eyebrow.

"What people?"

"Gavin Locke." Toy's eyes widened.

"You didn't." Carmen laughed.

"Oh don't be like that you know you like him."

"Che, right." Carmen rolled her eyes, then looked to her right, "oh look, here he comes now." Tory glanced over quickly to see a young man walking towards them. He wore jeans and a red t-shirt with a grey jacket on his arm. He had light blonde hair and his dark sunglasses hid his light blue eyes. Tory's eyes darted around nervously, looking for a place she might hide from her so called friend. Carmen just laughed.

"Oh come on, what's so bad about him?" she asked

"He's arrogant, and egotistical, and supercilious," and it was here that Tory began to lose focus as she watched him walk toward them, "and intelligent, and interesting, and terribly handsome." Carmen snickered behind her hand. Hearing the sound seemed to snap Tory out of whatever daze had settled on her and she scowled slightly. Carmen, seeing Tory's look, rolled her eyes.

"Oh yes, now I can see why you don't like him. He's a horrible person and I, for one, think we should make him a sacrifice to appease the volcano gods."

"Who are we throwing into a volcano?" Gavin asked as he positioned himself next to the two girls.

"My ex-boyfriend." Carmen said without missing a beat.

"Oh? I hadn't known you'd added another tick mark to your lipstick case." Carmen smiled wickedly

"Don't make yourself dizzy trying to keep up." Gavin chuckled then turned to the uncharacteristically quiet Tory who was still scowling at Carmen.

"Oh what a shame. Did it finally freeze that way Tor." Tory looked at him then blinked, surprised.

"Hello Gavin, when did you get here." Carmen burst out laughing at this, and the combination of both girls caused Gavin to frown and roll his eyes good naturedly. Just as Carmen's giggles were subsiding a shout came from behind her and a second later she was shoved into Tory by the combined momentum of Jack and Michelle. Tory smirked slightly, helping Carmen back onto her feet.

"Oh!" she intoned, " did I forget to tell you? I'm here with my brothers and sisters." Carmen whipped her head so quickly in Tory's direction it looked painful.

"Brothers? As in your older brother Calvin?" Tory sighed

"Unfortunately." Carmen's grin stretched from each ear.

"You know, that's just gross." Tory spoke, her tone slightly disgusted, slightly disturbed "He's my brother, and this unfortunate crush has got to go!" her teasing speech ended as she looked down at the pulling at her sleeve.

"C'mon Tory! We want to gooooooooo!" Jack whined pathetically.

Gavin saw Tory smile softly at her younger brother, but at soon as it was there it was gone again. In its place was the mask of bored indifference he loathed so much. He had seen it with increasing frequency since her mother had died and it worried him. He pondered that even her mocking smirk was more desirable than this fake carelessness.

"Very well." she announced with dramatic arm gestures that reminded him of jungle explorers and a British accent, "We shall brave the many dangers of this savage place. For the Queen!" she said finally and with chorusing cries of "For the Queen" from the twins and the boy crazed brunette at her side she began walking towards the lion enclosures. Marie followed quickly after her yelling something about having a plan. Next went Calvin looking slightly unnerved under Carmen's enthusiastic attentions. He stood there and watched them all trying to get along. He noticed Tory's irritation with her sister's nagging and her exasperation with her brother's social dimness. He saw, when no one else did, when she looked so hopelessly lost trying to herd the twins alone, but then the look was gone; this time replaced with that bloody arrogant smirk she loved so much, calling back to him.

"Don't just stand there Locke, the lions are waiting." Gavin shook his head and chuckled while jogging to catch up to her and Carmen, who had joined her once again. He immediately became worried when he realized those whispers could be consider highly conspiratorial. His worry increased when they stopped talking abruptly at his entrance into hearing range. Looking curiously between the two girls, he got only Tory's nervous chuckling and Carmen's terribly off-tune whistling as an answer.


End file.
